Image reading device and image forming apparatus having the same

ABSTRACT

An image reading device and an image forming apparatus having the same that can increase a scan quality by improving mounting positions of units to read information recorded on a document and a mounting structure of a light shielding member. The image reading device may include a first reading unit to read image information recorded on a first surface of a document, a second reading unit disposed at a predetermined distance from the first reading unit along a document feeding direction to read image information recorded on a second surface of the document, and at least one light shielding member mounted between the first reading unit and the second reading unit along the document feeding direction. The light shielding member may extend in a direction different from the document feeding direction such that one end portion is located in a document feeding path. The light shielding member may be provided with a document guide portion to guide the document.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.2007-0074167, filed on Jul. 24, 2007 in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present general inventive concept relates to an image reading deviceand an image forming apparatus having the same, and more particularly toan image reading device and an image forming apparatus having the samethat is capable of duplex (double-sided) scanning.

2. Description of the Related Art

An image forming apparatus is an apparatus that prints an image on aprinting medium, e.g., paper, according to an inputted image signal. Animage forming apparatus may be classified as a printer, a copyingmachine, a multi-function printer with multiple functions of printing,copying, scanning, and the like. For example, a multi-function printercan perform a printing function of printing an image in response toimage information from an external apparatus such as a computer, etc., areading function of reading image information recorded on a document andretaining the image information in a recording medium, a copyingfunction of printing an image in response to scanned image information,and a fax function of transmitting scanned image information to a remoteplace through communication links.

In order to achieve the above functions, a multi-function image formingapparatus is equipped with an image reading device to read imageinformation recorded on a document. An example of a conventional imagereading device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.2005-191795. The disclosed conventional image reading device may performduplex (double-sided) scanning. The conventional image reading deviceincludes a first image sensor unit and a second image sensor unit, whichare oppositely arranged on both surfaces of a document, tosimultaneously read information recorded on both the surfaces of thedocument.

In this type of image reading device, because two image sensor unitsoppose each other and respectively irradiate light to a front surfaceand a rear surface of the document, the light irradiated from one imagesensor unit affects the other opposite image sensor unit anddeteriorates a scan quality. To address this problem, the disclosedconventional image reading device is equipped with a light shieldingmember that is mounted inside the image sensor unit to shield lightirradiated from a light source from being transmitted to a lightreceiving element of the other opposite image sensor unit.

However, in the conventional image reading device, the light irradiatedfrom the light source of the image sensor unit (e.g., the first imagesensor unit) may be reflected from the light shielding member andtransmitted to the light receiving element of the same image sensor unit(the first image sensor unit), which may cause the light receivingelement to detect light unrelated to image information of the documentand/or deteriorate a scan quality.

Also, because the light shielding member, which is formed in a plasticplate or coated with paint, is mounted inside the image sensor unit, aninner structure of the image sensor unit and an assembling process ofthe image sensor unit may become complicated.

Also, when two image sensor units oppositely arranged on both thesurfaces of the document irradiate light to the front surface and therear surface of the document, the light irradiated toward the frontsurface of the document interferes with the light irradiated toward therear surface of the document. Thus, the information about the imagerecorded on the document is distorted, and a scan quality may bedeteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present general inventive concept provides an image reading device,an image forming apparatus having the same and methods thereof that canincrease a scan quality by improving mounting positions of units (e.g.,reading units) to read information recorded on a document or a mountingstructure of a light shielding member.

The present general inventive concept also provides an image readingdevice and an image forming apparatus having the same that canfacilitate the installation of a light shielding member withoutcomplicating structures of reading units.

Additional aspects and/or utilities of the general inventive conceptwill be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part,will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice ofthe general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present generalinventive concept may be achieved by providing an image reading deviceincluding a first reading unit to read image information recorded on afirst surface of a document, a second reading unit disposed at apredetermined distance from the first reading unit along a documentfeeding direction to read image information recorded on a second surfaceof the document, and at least one light shielding member mounted betweenthe first reading unit and the second reading unit along the documentfeeding direction.

The at least one light shielding member may extend in a directiondifferent from the document feeding direction.

The at least one light shielding member may be provided with a documentguide portion to guide the document.

The image reading device may further include a scanning frame and acover to cover the scanning frame. The first reading unit and the secondreading unit may be respectively disposed in the scanning frame and thecover, and the at least one light shielding member may be mounted in atleast one of the scanning frame or the cover.

The at least one light shielding member may be integrally formed with atleast one of the scanning frame or the cover.

The first reading unit and the second reading unit may respectivelyinclude a first reading unit case and a second reading unit case to forman external appearance. The at least one light shielding member may bemounted on at least one of the first reading unit case or the secondreading unit case.

The at least one light shielding member may be integrally formed with atleast one of the first reading unit case or the second reading unitcase.

The at least one light shielding member may be made of a flexiblematerial or an elastically deformable material.

The at least one light shielding member may include a first lightshielding member and a second light shielding member disposed at apredetermined distance from the first light shielding member along thedocument feeding direction.

At least one of the first reading unit and the second reading unit mayread the image information of the document with light, and the at leastone light shielding member may have a dark color.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present generalinventive concept may also be achieved by providing an image formingapparatus including the above described image reading device.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present generalinventive concept may also be achieved by providing an image formingapparatus having an image reading device including a main body having adocument feeding path, a first reading unit to read image informationrecorded on a first surface of the document passing through the documentfeeding path, and a second reading unit to read image informationrecorded on a second surface of the document passing through thedocument feeding path, the second reading unit being disposed inmisalignment with the first reading unit along a document feedingdirection and at least one light shielding member mounted between thefirst reading unit and the second reading unit along the documentfeeding direction to shield light irradiated toward the document from atleast one of the first reading unit or the second reading unit frombeing transmitted to the other reading unit.

The at least one light shielding member may extend (e.g., vertically) tolocate one end portion of the light shielding member in the documentfeeding path.

The main body of the image reading device may include a scanning framemounted with the first reading unit and a cover mounted with the secondreading unit. The at least one light shielding member may include afirst light shielding member to extend from the cover toward thedocument feeding path, and a second light shielding member to extendfrom the scanning frame toward the document feeding path.

The first light shielding member and the second light shielding membermay be integrally formed with the cover and the scanning frame,respectively.

The first reading unit and the second reading unit may respectivelyinclude a first reading unit case and a second reading unit case. The atleast one light shielding member may include a first light shieldingmember to extend from the second reading unit case toward the documentfeeding path, and a second light shielding member to extend from thefirst reading unit case toward the document feeding path.

The first light shielding member and the second light shielding membermay be respectively integrally formed with the second reading unit caseand the first reading unit case.

The at least one light shielding member may be provided with aninclination surface to guide the document passing through the documentfeeding path.

The at least one light shielding member may be made of a flexiblematerial or an elastically deformable material.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present generalinventive concept may also be achieved by providing a light shieldingmember of an image reading device mounted between two reading unitsalong a document feeding direction. The light shielding member extendsin a direction different from the document feeding direction to reducelight interference between the two reading units.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present generalinventive concept may also be achieved by providing an image formingapparatus including an image reading device including a first readingunit to read image information recorded on a first surface of adocument, and a second reading unit disposed in misalignment with thefirst reading unit along a document feeding direction to read imageinformation recorded on a second surface of the document, and at leastone light shielding member mounted between the first reading unit andthe second reading unit along the document feeding direction to reducereceipt of light irradiated toward the document from at least one of thefirst reading unit or the second reading unit by the other reading unit.

The foregoing and/or other aspects and utilities of the present generalinventive concept may also be achieved by providing a light shieldingmember of an image reading device positioned at a document feeding pathbetween two reading units configured to concurrently operate, the lightshielding member to extend in a direction different from the documentfeeding path to reduce light interference between the two reading units.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects and/or utilities of the exemplary embodimentsof the general inventive concept will become apparent and more readilyappreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment of an image formingapparatus in accordance with the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a partial constitution of an imagereading device in accordance with the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 3 is diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a partialconstitution of the image reading device depicted in FIG. 2; and

FIGS. 4 to 6 are diagrams illustrating modified examples of a lightshielding member in accordance with the present general inventiveconcept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of thepresent general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to likeelements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order toexplain the present general inventive concept by referring to thefigures.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a constitution of an embodiment of animage forming apparatus according to the present general inventiveconcept, and FIG. 2 is a diagram of a partial constitution of anembodiment of an image reading device according to the present generalinventive concept.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, an image forming apparatus of the presentembodiment may include an image reading device 100 to read imageinformation recorded on a document and a printing device 200 (e.g.,image forming device) to print an image on a printing medium, e.g.,paper.

The printing device 200 may print the image in response to a signal fromthe image reading device 100 or a signal from an external apparatus suchas a computer, etc. The printing device 200 may include a paper feedingunit 210 to supply a printing medium, e.g., paper S, a developing unit220 to develop the image on the paper, a fusing unit 230 to fuse thedeveloped image to the paper by applying heat and/or pressure to thepaper, and a paper discharge unit 240 to discharge the printed paper tothe outside.

The paper feeding unit 210 may include a paper feeding tray 211 to loadthe paper S thereon, and a spring 212 to elastically support the paperfeeding tray 211. The paper loaded on the paper feeding tray 211 ispicked up by a pickup roller 213 sheet by sheet, and fed toward thedeveloping unit 220.

The developing unit 220 may include a photosensitive drum 221 on whichan electrostatic latent image is formed by an exposure unit 250, acharge roller 222 to charge the photosensitive drum 221, a developingroller 223 to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on thephotosensitive drum 221 into a toner image, a supply roller 224 tosupply a toner to the developing roller 223, and a transfer roller 225to press the paper toward the photosensitive drum 221 to transfer thetoner image developed on the photosensitive drum 221 onto the printingmedium, e.g., the paper S.

The fusing unit 230 may include a heat roller 231 having a heat sourceto heat the toner image transferred onto the paper, and a press roller232 preferably disposed to oppose the heat roller 231 to maintain aconstant fusing pressure with the heat roller 231.

The paper discharge unit 240 may include paper discharge rollers 241sequentially mounted to discharge the paper having passed through thefusing unit 230 to the outside.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image reading device 100 accordingto an embodiment of the present general inventive concept may include amain body 101 configured with a scanning frame 110 and a cover 120, anda first reading unit 130 a and a second reading unit 130 b to read imageinformation of the document D by irradiating light to the document D.The cover 120 is coupled (e.g., hinged) to the scanning frame 110 tomove between an open position and a closed position that may shield atop surface of the scanning frame 110.

The first reading unit 130 a and the second reading unit 130 b may bearranged opposite to each other while a document feeding path 140 isprovided therebetween. For example, the first reading unit 130 a may bedisposed below the document D passing through the document feeding path140 to read image information from a first surface of the document, andthe second reading unit 130 b may be disposed above the document Dpassing through the document feeding path 140 to read image information(e.g., offset concurrent information) from a second surface of thedocument, which may be one of various sizes.

The first reading unit 130 a and the second reading unit 130 bpreferably include a first reading unit case 131 a and a second readingunit case 131 b, respectively, which may form an external appearance.The first reading unit 130 a may include a light source 132, an imagesensor 133, plural reflecting members 134, and a condensing lens 135,which are preferably accommodated in the first reading unit case 131 a.The second reading unit 130 b may include a light source 132, an imagesensor 133, plural reflecting members 134, and a condensing lens 135,which are preferably accommodated in the second reading unit case 131 b.The light source 132 irradiates light to the document, and the imagesensor 133 receives the light reflected from the document and convertsthe light into an electric signal. The plural reflecting members 134 mayreflect the light reflected from the document to the image sensor 133.The condensing lens 135 is preferably disposed at the front of the imagesensor 133 in an optical path to condense the light on the image sensor133. Hereinafter, when it is needed to separately explain the lightsources of the first reading unit 130 a and the second reading unit 130b, the light source of the first reading unit 130 a will be referred toas a first light source 132 a, and the light source of the secondreading unit 130 b will be referred to as a second light source 132 b.In an embodiment of an image forming apparatus, additional reading unitsmay be included and positioned in a similar manner.

The first reading unit case 131 a and the second reading unit case 131 binclude light irradiation holes 136 through which the light emitted fromthe light sources 132 can reach the document and light transmittanceholes 137 through which the light reflected from the document can betransmitted to the interiors of the reading unit cases 131 a and 131 b.

The second reading unit 130 b may be mounted in the cover 120. Anautomatic document feeder (ADF) 150 is provided at the cover 120 toautomatically feed documents for successive scanning.

The ADF 150 includes a document inlet port 151 to supply the document tobe scanned, a document outlet port 152 to discharge the scanneddocument, a document feeding path 140 (e.g., in the cover 120) to feedthe document therethrough, and rollers to feed the document that may bemounted in the document feeding path 140.

The document inlet port 151 is formed at a portion of the cover 120, andthe document outlet port 152 is preferably formed below the documentinlet port 151. A document feeding tray 153 to load the document D to befed by the ADF 150 is provided near the document inlet port 151. Adocument discharge tray 154, on which the scanned document is dischargedand loaded, is provided near the document outlet port 152.

The document feeding path 140 may be formed in a substantially C shape.However, the present general inventive concept is not intended to be solimited. One end of the document feeding path 140 is connected to thedocument feeding tray 153 through the document inlet port 151, and theother end of the document feeding path 140 is connected to the documentdischarge tray 154 through the document outlet port 152. For the firstreading unit 130 a and the second reading unit 130 b to read imageinformation recorded on the document D passing through the documentfeeding path 140, a first ADF glass 112 and a second ADF glass 155 aresequentially arranged in the document feeding path 140. The first ADFglass 112 may be mounted in the scanning frame 110 at a positioncorresponding to the first reading unit 130 a, and the second ADF glass155 may be mounted in the cover 120 at a position corresponding to thesecond reading unit 130 b.

Document moving devices may be coupled to move the document D along thedocument feeding path 140. For example, rollers to feed the document mayinclude a document pickup roller 161 to pick up the document D loaded onthe document feeding tray 153, first to third feeding rollers 162, 163and 164 to feed the document picked up by the document pickup roller 161in the document feeding path 140, and a discharge roller 165 todischarge the scanned document to the document discharge tray 154. Thefirst feeding roller 162 positioned closest to the document pickuproller 161 may also function to separate individual sheets of thedocument picked up by the document pickup roller 161. For this, afriction pad 166 may be mounted while opposing the first feeding roller162.

The first reading unit 130 a is preferably mounted at the scanning frame110, and a flat glass 111 and the first ADF glass 112 may be mounted onthe top surface of the scanning frame 110. A user puts the document onthe flat glass 111 sheet by sheet to scan the document. The firstreading unit 130 a can move along the flat glass 111 below the flatglass 111 to scan image information recorded on the document put on theflat glass 111. The first reading unit 130 a also can be displaced belowthe first ADF glass 112 to scan image information recorded on thedocument fed by the ADF 150.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first reading unit 130 a and thesecond reading unit 130 b may be arranged in misalignment with eachother along a document feeding direction. For example, the secondreading unit 130 b is positioned at a predetermined distance from thefirst reading unit 130 a along the document feeding direction. If thefirst reading unit 130 a and the second reading unit 130 b are arrangedas described above, the light emitted from the first light source 132 atoward the document D and the light emitted from the second light source132 b toward the document D are irradiated to the document D at a longdistance from each other, which may reduce or prevent the distortion ofthe image information due to the light interference near the document D(e.g., through and/or reflected by the document D).

FIG. 3 is diagram illustrating an enlarged view of a partialconstitution of the image reading device depicted in FIG. 2. Asillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, at least one light shielding member 170may be mounted between the first reading unit 130 a and the secondreading unit 130 b along the document feeding direction. The lightshielding member 170 may operate to shield the light irradiated from thefirst light source 132 a to the document D from being transmitted to thesecond reading unit 130 b, and/or also to shield the light irradiatedfrom the second light source 132 b to the document D from beingtransmitted to the first reading unit 130 a. Preferably, the lightshielding member 170 has a dark color to effectively shield (e.g., blockand/or absorb) the light emitted from the light source 132.

The light shielding member 170 may include a first light shieldingmember 171 mounted in the cover 120, and a second light shielding member172 mounted in the scanning frame 110. The first light shielding member171 may extend in a direction different from (e.g., not parallel to) thedocument feeding direction so that one end portion 171 a of the firstlight shielding member 171 is positioned in the document feeding path140. Similarly, the second light shielding member 172 may extend in adirection different from the document feeding direction so that one endportion 172 a of the second light shielding member 172 is positioned inthe document feeding path 140. FIG. 3 illustrates that the first lightshielding member 171 and the second light shielding member 172 extendvertically or substantially vertically toward the document feeding path140. Although the embodiment of FIG. 3 illustrates that the lightshielding members are respectively mounted in the cover 120 and thescanning frame 110, it may be possible to mount the light shieldingmember(s) in only the cover 120 or the scanning frame 110.

One end portion 171 a of the first light shielding member 171 and oneend portion 172 a of the second light shielding member 172, which arelocated adjacent to the document D, may be provided with document guideportions 173 to guide the document (e.g., to smoothly feed thedocument). For example, the document guide portions 173 may beconfigured as inclined surfaces 173 a (e.g., linear or non-linear),which are inclined downwardly or upwardly, along the document feedingdirection. However, embodiments according to the present generalinventive concept are not intended to be so limited, for example, aguide portion may have three-dimensional characteristics.

FIGS. 4 to 6 are diagrams illustrating additional modified examples oflight shielding members according to other embodiments of the presentgeneral inventive concept. As illustrated in FIG. 4, a first lightshielding member 174 may be integrally formed with the cover 120, and asecond light shielding member 175 may be integrally formed with thescanning frame 110. If the light shielding member 170 is integrallyformed with the cover 120 or the scanning frame 110 as described above,a process of mounting the light shielding member 170 in the cover 120 orthe scanning frame 110 becomes unnecessary, and thus productivity may beincreased or cost decreased.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, a first light shielding member 176 may bemounted to the second reading unit case 131 b. Preferably, the firstlight shielding member 176 is integrally formed with the second readingunit case 131 b. FIG. 5 illustrates that a second light shielding member172 may be mounted in the scanning frame 110 in consideration of themovement of the first reading unit 130 a. However, when the firstreading unit 130 a is fixedly mounted under the first ADF glass 112, thesecond light shielding member 172 also may be mounted to the firstreading unit case 131 a or may be integrally formed with the firstreading unit case 131 a. Also as illustrated in FIG. 5, to effectivelyshield the light, the first light shielding member 176 and the secondlight shielding member 172 may be arranged at a predetermined distancefrom each other along the document feeding direction (and separated fromthe reading units). This may more effectively shield the light.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the light shielding member 170 may be made ofa flexible material or an elastically deformable material. The lightshielding member 170 can effectively shield the light without disturbingthe movement of the document. When the document D does not pass, a firstlight shielding member 177 and a second light shielding member 178 maybe maintained in a state illustrated by a dotted line in FIG. 6. On theother hand, when the document D passes, the first light shielding member177 and the second light shielding member 178 are pushed by the feddocument, and may be deformed to a state illustrated by a solid line inFIG. 6. Preferably, the first light shielding member 177 mounted in thecover 120 is made of a flexible material, and the second light shieldingmember 178 mounted in the scanning frame 110 is made of an elasticallydeformable material. The first light shielding member 177 also may bemade of an elastically deformable material. However, since the firstlight shielding member 177 can be restored to its original state (e.g.,a state illustrated by the dotted line in FIG. 6) by the gravity withoutan elastic force, the first light shielding member 177 made of aflexible material can effectively perform its role.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic is described inconnection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within thepurview of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, orcharacteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.Furthermore, for ease of understanding, certain method procedures mayhave been delineated as separate procedures; however, these separatelydelineated procedures should not be construed as necessarily orderdependent in their performance. That is, some procedures may be able tobe performed in an alternative ordering, simultaneously, etc.

As described above, embodiments of an image reading device and methodsthereof according to the present general inventive concept can reduce orprevent the interference between the light irradiated toward thedocument from the first reading unit and the second reading unit thatare arranged or positioned to oppose each other and may operateconcurrently. Embodiments of an image reading device and methods thereofcan reduce or prevent the light emitted from one of two reading unitsfrom being transmitted to the other reading unit. Accordingly, thedeterioration of a scan quality because of the distortion of imageinformation can be reduced or prevented.

Further, since a light shielding member may mounted in the main body ofthe image reading device or the case of the reading unit, the lightshielding member can be conveniently employed without complicating theinner structure of the reading unit or increasing size thereof.

Although few embodiments of the present general inventive concept havebeen illustrated and described, it would be appreciated by those skilledin the art that changes may be made in these embodiments withoutdeparting from the principles and spirit of the general inventiveconcept, the scope of which is defined in the claims and theirequivalents. As used in this disclosure, the term “preferably” isnon-exclusive and means “preferably, but not limited to.” Terms in theclaims should be given their broadest interpretation consistent with thegeneral inventive concept as set forth in this description. For example,the terms “coupled” and “connect” (and derivations thereof) are used toconnote both direct and indirect connections/couplings. As anotherexample, “having” and “including”, derivatives thereof and similartransitional terms or phrases are used synonymously with “comprising”(i.e., all are considered “open ended” terms)—only the phrases“consisting of” and “consisting essentially of” should be considered as“close ended”. Claims are not intended to be interpreted under 112 sixthparagraph unless the phrase “means for” and an associated functionappear in a claim and the claim fails to recite sufficient structure toperform such function.

1. An image reading device comprising: a first reading unit to readimage information recorded on a first surface of a document; a secondreading unit disposed at a predetermined distance from the first readingunit along a document feeding direction to read image informationrecorded on a second surface of the document; and at least one lightshielding member mounted between the first reading unit and the secondreading unit along the document feeding direction.
 2. The image readingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the at least one light shieldingmember extends in a direction different from the document feedingdirection.
 3. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein theat least one light shielding member is provided with a document guideportion to guide the document.
 4. The image reading device according toclaim 1, further comprising: a scanning frame; and a cover to cover thescanning frame, wherein the first reading unit and the second readingunit are respectively disposed in the scanning frame and the cover, andwherein the at least one light shielding member is mounted in at leastone of the scanning frame or the cover.
 5. The image reading deviceaccording to claim 4, wherein the at least one light shielding member isintegrally formed with at least one of the scanning frame and the cover.6. The image reading device according to claim 1, wherein the firstreading unit and the second reading unit respectively include a firstreading unit case and a second reading unit case to form an externalappearance, and wherein the at least one light shielding member ismounted on at least one of the first reading unit case or the secondreading unit case.
 7. The image reading device according to claim 6,wherein the at least one light shielding member is integrally formedwith the at least one of the first reading unit case and the secondreading unit case.
 8. The image reading device according to claim 1,wherein the at least one light shielding member is made of a flexiblematerial or an elastically deformable material.
 9. The image readingdevice according to claim 1, wherein the at least one light shieldingmember includes a first light shielding member and a second lightshielding member disposed at a predetermined distance from the firstlight shielding member along the document feeding direction.
 10. Theimage reading device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of thefirst reading unit and the second reading unit is configured to read theimage information of the document with light, and the at least one lightshielding member has a dark color.
 11. An image forming apparatuscomprising the image reading device according to claim
 1. 12. An imageforming apparatus comprising: an image reading device including a mainbody having a document feeding path, a first reading unit to read imageinformation recorded on a first surface of the document passing throughthe document feeding path, and a second reading unit to read imageinformation recorded on a second surface of the document passing throughthe document feeding path, the second reading unit being disposed inmisalignment with the first reading unit along a document feedingdirection; and at least one light shielding member mounted between thefirst reading unit and the second reading unit along the documentfeeding direction to shield light irradiated toward the document from atleast one of the first reading unit or the second reading unit frombeing transmitted to the other reading unit.
 13. The image formingapparatus according to claim 12, wherein the at least one lightshielding member extends to locate one end portion of the lightshielding member in the document feeding path.
 14. The image formingapparatus according to claim 12, wherein the main body of the imagereading device includes a scanning frame mounted with the first readingunit, and a cover mounted with the second reading unit, and wherein theat least one light shielding member includes a first light shieldingmember to extend from the cover toward the document feeding path, and asecond light shielding member to extend from the scanning frame towardthe document feeding path.
 15. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 14, wherein the first light shielding member and the second lightshielding member are integrally formed with the cover and the scanningframe, respectively.
 16. The image forming apparatus according to claim12, wherein the first reading unit and the second reading unitrespectively include a first reading unit case and a second reading unitcase, and wherein the at least one light shielding member includes afirst light shielding member to extend from the second reading unit casetoward the document feeding path, and a second light shielding member toextend from the first reading unit case toward the document feedingpath.
 17. The image forming apparatus according to claim 16, wherein thefirst light shielding member and the second light shielding member arerespectively integrally formed with the second reading unit case and thefirst reading unit case.
 18. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 12, wherein the at least one light shielding member is providedwith an inclination surface to guide the document passing through thedocument feeding path.
 19. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 12, wherein the at least one light shielding member is made of aflexible material or an elastically deformable material.
 20. A lightshielding member of an image reading device mounted between two readingunits along a document feeding direction, wherein the light shieldingmember extends in a direction different from the document feedingdirection to reduce light interference between the two reading units.21. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image reading deviceincluding a first reading unit to read image information recorded on afirst surface of a document, and a second reading unit disposed inmisalignment with the first reading unit along a document feedingdirection to read image information recorded on a second surface of thedocument; and at least one light shielding member mounted between thefirst reading unit and the second reading unit along the documentfeeding direction to reduce receipt of light irradiated toward thedocument from at least one of the first reading unit or the secondreading unit by the other reading unit.
 22. The image forming apparatusaccording to claim 21, wherein the at least one light shielding memberis configured to locate one end portion of the light shielding member ina document feeding path.
 23. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 21, wherein the main body of the image reading device includes amain body having a document feeding path, wherein the main bodycomprises: a scanning frame mounted with the first reading unit; and acover mounted with the second reading unit, wherein the second readingunit is disposed at a predetermined distance from the first reading unitalong the document feeding path, and wherein the at least one lightshielding member includes a first light shielding member to extend fromthe cover toward the document feeding path and a second light shieldingmember to extend from the scanning frame toward the document feedingpath to block light rays from traveling through the document feedingpath from each of the first and second reading units to the otherreading unit.
 24. The image forming apparatus according to claim 23,wherein the first light shielding member and the second light shieldingmember are offset and integrally formed with the cover and the scanningframe, respectively.
 25. The image forming apparatus according to claim21, further comprising: a first reading unit case to surround the firstreading unit; and a second reading unit case to surround the secondreading unit, wherein the at least one light shielding member is mountedon at least one of the first reading unit case and the second readingunit case or the at least one light shielding member is integral to theat least one of the first reading unit case and the second reading unitcase.
 26. The image forming apparatus according to claim 21, wherein theat least one light shielding member is provided with a guide surfacehaving a prescribed configuration to guide the document along thedocument feeding direction.
 27. The image forming apparatus according toclaim 21, wherein the at least one light shielding member is configuredto be a flexible material, an elastically deformable material or a darkcolor.
 28. A light shielding member of an image reading devicepositioned at a document feeding path between two reading unitsconfigured to concurrently operate, the light shielding member to extendin a direction different from the document feeding path to reduce lightinterference between the two reading units.
 29. The light shieldingmember of an image reading device according to claim 28, wherein the atleast one light shielding member includes a first light shielding memberof flexible material to extend toward the document feeding path fromabove, and a second light shielding member of an elastically deformablematerial to extend toward the document feeding path from below to reduceoffset concurrent light interference.